1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a candle having a favorable combination of properties including a pleasing odor as supplied, a pleasing odor while burning and upon being extinguished, and substantial absence of smoke and unpleasant odor while burning and upon being extinguished.
2. Prior Art
The art of candlemaking has been practiced for centuries. The traditional technique still in use includes embedding a wick in a mass of combustible material and generating illumination by lighting the wick, causing the burning wick to contact and melt the exposed surface of the combustible material which then is absorbed by the wick and so sustains the flame until the combustible material is consumed or the burning candle is deliberately extinguished.
With the introduction of electric lighting the utilitarian illumination of the home and the workplace with candles declined, while the use of candles to provide a variety of esthetically satisfying effects of religious inspiration, festivity, or relaxation and intimacy has become the principal use of candles. For such esthetically driven use a pleasing odor is an important consideration, and many varieties of scented candles have been provided. While such scented candles may have an agreeable odor encouraging their purchase, the inherent odor of the combustible materials used in candles according to the art is noticeable as the combustible material burns and particularly for some time after the flame is extinguished.
With the growth of the petroleum industry, refined paraffin wax has displaced the previous use of beeswax and tallow as the dominant combustible materials in candles. Even highly refined paraffin, however, is not free of odor and smoke when burning. A need therefore remains for improved combustible material for candles with better odor properties independent of the use of added fragrance. At the same time there exists among many consumers concern about the inexorably increasing use of petroleum and other non-renewable resources and a desire for consumer products based on renewable resources and especially for products based on vegetable derived raw materials and ingredients.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,958,462 to N. Baumer disclosed a candle material consisting of pure beeswax and a vegetable oil in liquid or in solid hydrogenated form. U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,705 to A. Miller, et al., disclosed a transparent candle body gel material whose essential ingredients are light clear mineral oil and/or a natural oil as gel base, a polyamide resin as the gelling agent, and an 8-, 10, or 12-carbon primary alcohol. Without the alcohol, the oil-polyamide gel system burns with an unsatisfactorily small flame and looks and feels greasy. Preferred additional ingredients include a small percentage of a methyl ester, up to 5% of a fatty acid, and a reducing agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,329 to K. Lin disclosed manufacture of a candle from a mixture of butter oil and a solidified oil. The butter oil includes the components coconut oil, palm oil, palm olein and hydrogenate of palm oil with the as palmitic 0.1% at most and the melting point within 35-37.degree. C. The solidified oil to which the butter oil is added meets the specification of acid value below 5.0, iodine value below 2.0, saponification value 195-198 and melting point 60.degree. plus or minus 1.degree. C. When the composition is burned a butter odor is released.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,089 to M. Elsamaloty disclosed a candle comprising a wick, a container, and a clear body gel comprising about 80 to 99% of a hydrocarbon oil, and about 1 to 20 wt % of a blend of at least one diblock copolymer and at least one triblock copolymer comprising segments of styrene monomer units and rubber monomer units.